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Responsible sourcing

Responsible sourcing consists of looking at what we purchase beyond the more traditional aspects of cost, quality and delivery time. This is one of the strategic objectives for our supply chain operations, and means we consider ethics, labour rights, and social and environmental issues when sourcing products and services across all purchasing categories and regional clusters.

Our approach

Our goal is to minimise negative impacts and make a positive contribution to the businesses, people and communities that make up our supply chain. As a global company with many thousands of suppliers around the world, we have an opportunity to promote responsible sourcing practices. We believe this is the right thing to do and also vital to remaining the packaging supplier of choice for our customers and for consumers. We have developed even stricter criteria for our purchase of the packaging materials used for Tetra Pak cartons: paperboard, polymers and aluminium. We have also signed up to the CE100, an Ellen MacArthur Foundation initiative to support a circular economy.

Low-carbon raw materials

Our goal is to make all of our packages from 100 percent renewable materials. Already, our cartons made mostly from plant-based materials have a significantly lower climate impact than packages made from fossil or mineral sources. The lifetime carbon impact of a Tetra Recart food package, for example, is five times less than its steel or glass equivalent. With renewable materials, products can also have positive environmental, economic and social impacts, capturing carbon as well as reducing emissions during their lifecycle, and promoting sustainable land use and biodiversity.

Polymers

A Tetra Pak package has thin layer of polymers, or plastic, to prevent moisture getting in or out and to keep the contents fresh. Plastic is also used to make caps, closures and straws. Our long-term ambition is to offer all our chilled and ambient packages made from renewable alternatives to oil-based plastics.

Aluminium

On the inside of our aseptic cartons, a layer of aluminium eight times thinner than a human hair provides vital protection from oxygen and light, keeping perishable food safe without refrigeration for months. Although this layer is minute, we are continually innovating to make it as thin as possible, while investigating alternative barrier materials.